Page 33 of Break

I step over to the pantry and pull it open, frowning at the barren shelves.

There’s not even any peanut butter or crackers in the pantry. I need to order groceries, maybe I can get another bottle of wine. I need to talk to Alex more about getting out of the house. I miss my friends, I miss the cookouts, the parties, or I can wait to order the groceries when I get back from the away games. No reason to buy food when Alex won’t eat any of it, that girl barely eats. The majority of her diet is salad, wine, and my dick.

I snort to myself as I work on ordering us some dinner. I crack open a cold beer and lean against the counter as I scroll through social media after I place the order from a new Mexican restaurant down the road.

I frown when I see a picture on Nolan’s page of him and Landon in some random backyard, their hands on… Marie’s swollen, protruding belly. She’s smiling, laughing in the photo. She looks radiant.

She’s pregnant?

Is that why she left and is ignoring me?

Are you fucking kidding me? Just because I didn’t want kids doesn’t mean I would drive her away if she had any… Holy shit how far along is she? Is the father even in the picture? Literally and figuratively. Is it Nolan or Landon’s?

They all knew?

I stomp through the house, finding Alex stepping into the shower in my bedroom withall of her naked, creamy skin on display. I groan internally and look away before I get sidetracked. “Hey… I’m heading out for a few hours. I ordered dinner, help yourself.” I turn and leave before she can respond and work on calling Landon and Nolan until one of them answers.

“Jesus fuck, what?” Landon growls as he answers, sounding groggy.

“What the fuck! Why didn’t anyone tell me that Marie’s pregnant?”

He groans and hangs up on me, so I call Nolan until he answers.

“I’m busy.”

“That’s nice… why didn’t anyone tell me that Marie’s pregnant?”

He snorts. “Because it’s not any of your business, asshole.”

I drive straight to his house and barely pay attention to the road. “Is this why she’s shutting me out? Are you the fucking dad?”

He laughs out loud, “No. I asked her when I found out. We haven’t slept together in over a year, as she reminded me. She refuses to tell anyone who the father is. She’s healthy, safe, and happy, James. She’ll talk to you about it when she’s ready.”

I grunt and park in his driveway. “Take me to her house. I need to see her.”

He sighs and hangs up, meeting me in the driveway a few minutes later. “Let me call her first.” He side-eyes me as he dialsher number, pressing his phone against his ear, murmuring lowly with Marie on the other line.

He hangs up and sends me a serious look, twisting in his seat to face me. “If I give you directions to her house, you have to promise me one thing. Never show up unannounced and never tell your girlfriend where she lives. Do you understand?”

I nod immediately and he starts to call out the directions as I drive.

I’m gripping the steering wheel so hard that it feels like it’s going to snap in half. That’s why she’s refusing to drink, why she’s been acting off… not skating.

Christ, I’m such a fucking idiot. How did I not put any of this together?

She probably pushed me away because I never wanted children and wouldn’t be able to handle a newborn, but it’s Marie’s child. Fuck, she helped me raise the twins since they were born, she stepped up and moved across the country to help me when I came here for college. Of fucking course I would be there for her.

Just notmydamn DNA. Nothing good comes from my DNA except for Caroline and Alyssa and I had help with them.

How would I raise a child with a woman like Alex? That’s one of the reasons why I’m with her, not a maternal damn bone or gene in her body. She doesn’t try to coddle me or mother me, and said before that she never wanted kids.

Say no more, my body, brain, and dick said.

Then again, she’s been bringing up starting a family quite frequently, no matter how many times I tell her I will never, everagree to having children. As if she could change my mind with a few seductive looks and her flashing her green eyes at me.

I also never told her about my vasectomy. I need to figure this shit out with Alex, I don’t think it’s working for me. I want my girls back in my life, I need to prove to Marie that I’m here for her. Baby or no baby. Always. There’s no way Alex would be cool with Marie moving back in, especially while pregnant.

Fuck, what do I do?

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